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Top 10 MMA Movie List

MMA movies are a trend thatís inevitably going to be moving into the mainstream.The sport is more or less primed to truely take off and feature films featuring(?) mma are going to go the way of sperm on Titoís girlfriendÖyeahÖitís going to spread.

What we have here is a list of movies that in some way feature the sport
we all love.I tried to strike a balance between the incorporation of mma and the quality of the actual movie.Iíve also tried to stay fairly close to mainstream so I wouldnít have to watch every Don ĎThe Dragoní Wilson movie to make sure I didnít miss an armbar.Of course there will be movies that are missed but thatís why top ten lists are so damn fun.So,before I get flamed to death,I make this statement:Calm the fuck down.

10.Fight Club-A film that has no mention of mma and the fighting style is more bar room then chop socky.You see an example of a mount.Although,again, this is more like seeing Tank in mma than Sakuraba landing a rolling knee bar.Is it mma?Probably not.Itís not even a movie about fighting really.But the idea of someone taking a group of fighters and turning it into a proto-fascist movement hell bent on controlling society?Kind of sounds like Dana White during a contract negotiation no?

9.The Quest-Yes,itís pretty much a remake of JCVDís Bloodsport,yes,itís a little lame.But címon,itís got a man fighting like snake against a Capoeira artist.You do see a guy get submission,and another guy actually taps out to end a fight.Not like todayís mma,but this is JCVDís vision of fighting in 1920ís.Read that last sentence and try to take any of it seriously.

8.Fighting-Channing Tatum canít act worth a shit and Terrence Howard underperforms worse than BJ Penn at 170.But the movie has mma elements from UFC 1 when no one knew anything about some guy named Gracie.

7.Bloodsport-Yes,JCVD must compete in yet another tournament featuring martial arts.This one doesnít have the mma specific style we know today,but it does feature a fat sumo guy,Muay Thai,Jeet Kune Do, Capoeira and Kung Fu.Oh,and a guy fighting like a monkey.Bloodsport makes the cut mainly because it features a clash of fighting styles in a tournament style setting. And actor playing Chong Li aka Bolo Yeung?Yeah,he was 50 while filming this movie.What have you done with your life?

6.Never Surrender-Starring Hector Echavarria as Diego Carter,an mma champion looking for a new challenge, this film wasnít as bad as I thought it was going to be.But the mma theme is extremely prevalent.You see a lot of the current UFC roster make appearance,most noteably Heath Herring, who actually does pretty well.I could see Herring starring in more craptastic mma films in the future.Yeah,I know itís not really close to the mainstream, but I saw the dvd in Walmart.

5.Undisputed 2-The first Undisputed was boxing only.The straight to DVD sequel,starring Michael Jai White,follows George ĎIcemaní Chambers to a Russian prison where he must add more fighting styles to his exisiting set to stay alive.Highely enjoyable film.

4.Never Back Down-Probably the movie that looks the most like the MMA sport as we know it today.While not a very good film,this is a movie that benefited the most from involving mma on our list as far as ranking.Jake Tyler,a misunderstood,angry teen who is a new kid at school.He gets his ass kicked by the local mma whiz and must learn to control his emotion and throw cinder blocks.Also,the bad guy gets punked by his dad.Like a bitch.It might have moved up a couple more spots had the montage been more 80ís.Yes,we needed more cowbell Jake Tyler.

3.Lionheart-Yet another entry by JCVD.No,Iím not a nuthugger,but his movies involved a lot of different forms of martial arts.While not entirely original,it plays like a French version of Bloodsport, you see Lyon Gaultier, a French*No,really?* Foreign Legion deserter trying to make money on the underground fighting circuit using his fighting skills.Starting out on the streets,Lyon works his way to fighting in a parking lot and eventually a pool.*Glamorous*If only we could get Brock to fight an alligator in a swamp.Maybe we could get HW champ that wonít flip off a crowd.And will drink Bud.

2.Flashpoint-Starring Donnie Yen,Flashpoint is just a highly entertaining martial arts movie.The twist?A lot of the fighting has mma elements in it.From the beginning,Yen scores a take down on a guy in the gym to the end fight scene,which is amazing.The actual story is pretty pedestrian and offers nothing new.This is primarly a movie to watch for Yenís fight choreography that features mma.

1.Red Belt-Awesome movie.Red Belt shouldnít be classified as an action movie.Itís much more about the main characterís fight to maintain his personal code of the samurai.Red Belt makes fighting the final option.This film perfectly blends mma and drama to produce a highly rewarding cinematic experience.

The following are movies that didnít quite fit:

Kickboxer-While some of the top tenís mma is a little questionable,Kickboxer will make the top ten for our Muay Thai list.

Mortal Kombat-The only instance of mma we see is leg scissors from the lovely Bridgette Wilson.It wasnít enough to crack the top ten though as the rest of the movie is pretty standard martial arts fair.

Enter the Dragon-You have a tournament,and fucking Bruce Lee, but no real mma moments.

Cyborg Soldier-Yeah,it has Rich Franklin.And he acts like a robot.Iím not sure if itís intential though.No real mma moment to justify entry into the top ten.

Only the Strong-Capoera based only.

Virtuosity-This Denzel Washington vehicle follows Parker Barnes as he trys to capture a computer generated serial killer, Sid 6.7 (Russell Crowe before he started douching.).Not very mma-ish right?Well,thereís actually a short scene during a chase where they run through a UFC arena.Ken Shamrock is the most prominently featured guy.This was during 1995 so itís pretty ground breaking in that,fighters were still allowed to kick each other in the balls and what not,yet they got a spot in a major movie production.Too bad Dana wasnít involved at this time.He probably would have demanded Denzelís likeness so the Oscar winner could never appear in another fight productionís arena.

Lethal Weapon-Mel Gibson gives us an awesome triangle choke at the end,but thatís all we have.No tournament of death here.

Fearless-The only reason Fearless makes the list of movies that didnít make the list is that I thought the fight between Huo Yuanjia and Hercules OíBrien actually happened,making it one of the first mma fights ever.But a wikipedia search reveals that OíBrien bitched out and left the country when Huo agreed to fight.Yeah,wiki might not be the best resource,but fuggit.Iím not getting paid to research this shit.

Movies that would have benefited from including mma:

Shawshank Redemption-Olí Andy would have been able to sit easier had he knew how to break a homoís arm.

Toy Story-Buzz Lightyear could have put a stop to all of Woodyís shenanigans had he just gogoplataíd his cowboy ass.

Casino-Nicky Santoro knowing mma?Yeah,he wouldnít have taken 100 shots with a baseball bat had this been the case.mg